1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat belt of a vehicle with an air belt, and, more particularly, to a seat belt of a vehicle which includes an air belt having a cushion covered by a webbing made of a fabric material.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, seat belts and air bags are installed in the occupant compartment of a vehicle to protect the occupants. Recently, an air belt has been proposed which is mounted, as an air bag device, to a seat belt to more safely protect the driver from an impact generated in the event of a crash.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional seat belt of a vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional seat belt, which uses a conventional air belt, includes a webbing 1 to traverse the body of the occupant, a retractor 2 to wind the webbing 1 in a tensed state and to prevent the webbing 1 from being abruptly unwound during a vehicle crash, a buckle 4 fixedly mounted to a seat 6, and a tongue 5 arranged at an intermediate portion of the webbing 1 and adapted to be coupled with the buckle 4. A webbing 1 extends through the tongue 5. When the tongue 5 is coupled to the buckle 4, the webbing 1 traverses both the shoulder and knees of the occupant. The conventional seat belt also includes an air belt 7 mounted to the webbing 1 to inflate during a vehicle crash.
The air belt 7 includes an inflator 8 to be operated by an electronic control unit installed in the vehicle during a vehicle crash to inject a high-pressure gas, a cushion 9 to be inflated by the gas injected from the inflator 8, and a connector 10 to connect the inflator 8 and the cushion 9.
The inflator 8 is arranged in the interior of a center filler 11 included in the vehicle. The connector 10 is protruded into the occupant compartment of the vehicle. The cushion 9 is connected to the connector 10, and is fixed in a longitudinal direction of the webbing 1.
The cushion 9 is fixedly mounted to an outer surface of the webbing 1. The cushion 9 is torn when a high-pressure gas is supplied from the inflator 8, and thus, is forwardly inflated. The cushion 9 includes a cover 12 having one end fixed to the connector 10 and the other end fixed to the webbing 1, and a bag 13 arranged in the cover 12 in a folded state, and connected to the connector 10 so that the high-pressure gas from the inflator 8 is supplied into the bag 13 via the connector 10.
The cover 12 is fixed to the webbing 1, and is formed with a tear line 14 so that the cover 12 is cut when the bag 13 inflates rapidly. In order to store the bag 13, the cover 12 is made of a hard plastic material.
Meanwhile, the retractor 2, to which the end of the webbing 1 opposite to the air belt 7 is fixed, is arranged at a lower portion of the center filler 11. The webbing 1 extends through a hole provided at the center filler 11 so that the webbing 1 is fixed to the retractor 2.
In the seat belt, which includes the above-mentioned conventional air belt, however, high impact is applied, during a vehicle crash, to a portion of the connector 10, to which the cover 12 is connected, because the cushion 9 and inflator 8 are connected by the connector 10. As a result, the cover 12 may be separated from the connector 10.
For this reason, the seat belt including the conventional air belt 7 has a problem in that the portion of the connector 10 may be damaged by the impact generated during a vehicle crash prior to an operation of the air belt 7 to protect the occupant, so that the air belt 7 may not operate.
Furthermore, the seat belt including the conventional air belt has a problem in that the connector may injure the occupant during a vehicle crash because the connector is protruded into the occupant compartment.
Moreover, the seat belt including the conventional air belt has a problem in that the cover 12 is made of a plastic material, which is uncomfortable to the occupant, in spite of the fact that the occupant contacts the cover 12, so that a degradation in wearing comfort occurs.